Fruit-bracing gate.



C. W McKlNNEY.

FRUIT BRACING GATE.

APPLICATION .FILED OCT. 5. 1914.

1,147,637, Patented July 20, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2. 17 9 17 Z i rrn era sumac CALEB W. MOKINNEY, OE FRESNO, CALIFORNIA.

Faun-anaemia GATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed. October 5', 1914. Serial No. 865,123.

- the invention is to provide reliable and efiicient means of simple construction for bracing crates or boxes of fruit in a car, so that they will not be shaken up in transit to destroy the fruit.

Another object of the invention is to'provide gates upon opposite sides of the car door for bracing the fruit packed in the opposite ends of the car so that it will not move in transit, said gate being hinged underneath the top of the car so they can be swung up out of the way when not required for use, and means being provided whereby the gates may be moved longitudinally of the car against the crates or boxes of fruit and braced in this position 'to prevent the boxes from moving about in transit.

The foregoing and other objects may be attained by means of the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of a car and showing one gate down in position ready to be braced and the other gate swung up against the ceiling of the car, Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of two gates swung down in position andbraced by turn buckles and rods, Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view through the'body of the car, and showing one of the gates in elevation, Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view, and Fig. 5 is a detail elevation showing the hinge for the gate sections and a lock for said sections.

Referring to the drawing the numeral 1 designates the roof and 2 the floor of an ordinary box car, while 3 are. sides of the same and 4 the door. Secured to the inner side of the roof or top 1 of the car are three spaced track rails 5, said t zack rails "extending longitudinally of the car. Grooves 6 are formed in'the inner sides of the body or sides 3 of the car.

Suspended from the tracks or rails 5 are Patented July 20, 1915.

the bracing gates and, they comprise the hangers 7 which are'slightly curvedat 8 as shown in Flg. 1 and comprise the two'inwardly extending fingers 9 which engage the.

head 10 of the rail and slide along'the web 11 of said rails. The gate is composed of the upright members 12 and the cross strips or braces 13, said bars being secured together by suitable rivets 14. The upright members 12 are in two sections, the upper section being designated 12 and the lower section 12". Connected to the hangers 7 are strong metal members 15 made in sections and hinged together at 16, the lower section being designated 15, and said two members 15 and 15 bein with registering lock openings 18 to receive a. pm 19 connected to a chain 20 attached by av staple 21 to the gate. Cross rods 22 are extended through the members 15 and 15, said cross rods adapted when extended by the turn buckles 23 to engage the grooves 6 on the inner sides of'the car body.

Ratchet bars 24 are formed on 'o'r secured to themembers 15 and 15 and" provided with ratchet teeth '25 between the two side flanges. To each one'of theratchet bars 24 provided with outwardly extending lugs 1 said lugs being provided I is pivoted at 26 an'adjustable brace for the gate. These braces. each consist of two rods 27 and 28, the inner ends of which are adustably mounted in a turn buckle 29. The member 28 is provided with a tapering end 30 which engages the ratchet teeth 25 of the rack bar 24. The members 27 and 28 are inclined-so that when the gates are braced apart and there is a movement of the car, the tapered end 30 may drop into teeth below to hold the gate firmly braced apart. The other members of the brace comprise the bars or rods of identical construction, comprising two members 27 and 28, the member 27 being pivoted to the rack bar 24 and the member 28 having a tapered end to engage the opposite rack bar, said braces being crossed in the center as shown moreclearly in Fig. 2.

' The operation of the bracing gate may be briefly described as follows: When the gates are not required for use, they are swung up.

against the ceiling or inner side of the roof of the-car and held by means of pins a or other suitable latches, and when they are re-.

fired for use van'd the boxes vor crates of it have been piled into the opposite ends of the car, the gates are let down. LUnder certain conditions the lower section of the gate may be swung upon its hinge in order to assist the operation of adjusting the gate against the boxes or crates. When the gates have been swung down, the cross rods 22 are extended by means of the turn buckles 23 and engaged in the grooves 6. The gates are then pushed firmly against the boxes on opposite sides and the cross braces 27 and 28 are connected by dropping the tapered ends 30 of the member 28 between the flanges of the rack bar 25, and when pushed down as far as possible, turn buckles 29 are turned to push the gates firmly against the boxes. In cases where the cross braces are not of suffi- From the foregoing it will be obvious that a bracing gate made in accordance with this lnvention can be used for firmly holding boxes or crates of food against movement during transit, whether the boxes of food occupy a portion or nearly all of the car, and that the gates may be readily swung up out of the way when not required for use.

Various changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is 1. Bracing. gates for fruit cars comprising gates suspended from the ceiling or roof of the car inside, said gates having a plurality of rack bars extending vertically thereon, and cross braces pivoted to one gate and having atapered end adapted to engage the teeth of a rack bar upon the other gate'and turn buckles for adjusting the members of said cross braces.

2. Bracing gates for fruit cars comprising track rails connected to the ceiling inside the car, hangers connected to slide on said rails, said hangers being'formed on or connected to vertical members of a gate, said gate having cross bars, and said gate being formed in sections, hinged together, adjustable cross rods connected to said gate and the ends of said cross rods fitting grooves in the inner sides of the car, and means for bracing two gates against boxes of fruit in the car.

3. Bracing gates, comprising longitudinal track rails, hangers suspended from said rails, said gates connected to the hangers, cross rods on said gates fitting grooves in the sides of the car, said cross rods being formed in sections and adjustable by means of a turn buckle and cross braces for two such gates, said cross braces each comprising two rods connected together by a turn buckle and said rods being pivoted at one end to a rack bar, and having a tapered end adapted to engage the teeth of an opposite rack bar.

4:- Bracing gates comprising rails, hangers, said gates supported from said hangers, each of said gates being formed in sections, hinged together, means for locking the two sections extended, and means for bracingthe gates ,apart, said means comprising cross rods having turn buckles for adjusting the same, said cross rods being pivoted at one end and tapered at the other to engage rack bars upon the opposite gate.

In testimony whereof I afix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CALEB w. McKINNEY.

Witnesses:

'llnomueson, E. S. VAN lldnrnn. 

